Customer Reviews

John Constantine, Hellblazer: Damnation's Flame

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Garth Ennis, John Constantine, Hellblazer: Damnation's Flame (DC Comics, 1999)

I love Garth Ennis. Preacher remains one of my favorite comic titles ever. But I really have to wonder what on Earth was going through his mind during most of his Hellblazer run, much of which is disjointed, fragmentary, and unsatisfying. (Not all of it, I rush to add; just most of it.) Damnation's Flame is very much in this mold.

There are four stories to be found here-- the title story, which deals with John's sojourn in America after the break-up, two stories involving the late Brendan, and a fourth involving Chas. If it all sounds rather like Ennis was running around trying to figure out how to get a number of folks into the stories he'd been neglecting, well, that's because it is. There are certainly some amusing moments to be found here (most of them involving John F. Kennedy, who is portrayed as an egotistical, question-dodging jerk-- the accuracy of which I'll leave to the individual reader to decide), but if you're looking for coherence, you're liable to find yourself at a loss. For collectors only. **

I have to believe that whoever didn't like this collection either doesn't get it or refuses to accept it. To be fair, the opening story is a little out of the ordinary for the usually London-based Constantine. Whereas Garth's other spectacular book PREACHER embraces the American Myth, "Damnation's Flame" thouroughly reveals it for what it is...a myth. Caught in a sliver of Hell, John encounters slaughtered Indians, soldiers who died for nothing, streets covered in crack, and a positively wanker of a president.

The other stories aren't earth-shattering, but they are enjoyable. John visits his old friend Brendan and meets Kit in a flashback to his days at Ravenscar (the mental hospital he was in and out of for three years). John also meets Brendan, now a hard-drinking ghost, in the present. And back in London, Chas tells his mates about one of the many times Constantine was apparently killed, and how this time there was even a funeral for him. The entire Ennis cast was present (Header, Kit, Brendan, Rick the Vic) as well as the Delano cast (Ray, Chas, Ritchie, Cheryl), and Moore's little-seen Emma.

By the way, if the sight of John F. Kennedy walking around with his hand pressed against the hole in his head to keep his brains from falling out isn't enough incentive to buy this book, check out his best line from the story:

"To be seen in a historical context as the conscience of the United States is not the honor one might think. It is, in fact, a burden, and one that I was...at the time...loath to shoulder. My chief concerns were, to set the record straight, immediate political survival, and regular extramarital sex with as many women as possible.

This album is a collection of issues 72-77 Hellblazer comic book, all written by Garth Ennis, of Preacher fame. The first part of the book is a story takes us to New York where John Constantine, trenchcoated magician and fasttalker, is trying to recuperate after some time as a drunken homeless in the streets of London, driven there by a broken heart.

Of course he wouldn't be Constantine if nothing happened. This time it is Papa Midnite that tries to put a spell on John in a very confusing story with Indians, JFK and a dead skull. The artwork by Steve Dillon is adequate, but the story leaves much to wish for.

The next two stories features Constantines now dead friend Brendan. The stories are pretty boring, nothing really happens. One of the stories is drawn by William Simpson, who also created the graphic novel Vamps.

The last part is some kind of origin story of how John Constantine first met Chaz, friend and Taxi-driver and how they make up for the last meeting where Chaz baptized John in a toilet. The artwork by Peter Snejberg is horrific, almost like caricatures, but the story is better than the others.

All in all, this is a weak album, nothing really happens and the stories are to confusing and jumpy to pay attention to. Still, if you are a Hellblazer fan, you should buy this anyhow, as you get some peeks on the background of Constantine. If you are new to Hellblazer, try albums 1-4 instead.

The Garth Ennis & Steve Dillon run on Hellblazer is a mixed bag. I like the focus on Constantine as a man (and not a mythic entity) and his weaknesses. I like the grittiness and the boozing and the dirt. However, I don't like how bizarrely ineffectual Constantine becomes at points in the story, and I often don't like the choppiness of the narrative.

In Damnation's Flame, these are both real problems. Hellblazer is an occult whipping boy, and there's no virtually connection between the stories in this volume. The result is one of the weaker volumes in Ennis' run on the Hellblazer title. Fortunately, everyone involved recovers.

Constantine spends most of the volume in a poison-addled state - alternating between horrible things in a homeless shelter and horrible things in a psychic hell-America (a little reminiscent of John Wagner & Alan Grant's Last American). The other stories in the volume are odd tales - bits and pieces of self-reflection from the self-absorbed (but - thankfully - not whiny) Hellblazer.

Great story from a 20 year old character. Id rather not go into detail on the story, but It is a good story. Not as good as some that follow this book but still worth a look.

You can pretty much pick up anything that had Garth Ennis's name on it and it will be an enjoyable read.

Garth Ennis' work on Hellblazer is some of the best in the medium, but this trade horribly dissapoints. Any no name writer could spin this tale of John Constantine, it's suprising to see the Ennis name on it. Constantine himself loses most of what made him so cool in other Ennis works... He becomes an everyman in this book, a nobody with nothing so cool about him that someone would want to write a book about. But sadly enough, Ennis has done it, and it's a stinker.

I just put it down and as usual with Constantine, I was very pleased. This is the end of the loose end that is Midnite (from "Original Sins") and John's full recovery and descent to his old dangerous habits that was started in "Tainted Love." These are the stories that put Constantine back on track with whom he truly and always has been, everyone's favorite mage and con-artist. If you are told that you must go to hell and can take one other person with you, he proves, yet again, that there is no better choice than John Constantine... There is good reason that they call him the "HellBlazer," you know. ;)